Document

Sample ELA Sets
• Grade 3
• Grade 6
• Grades 9/10
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Passage
Item
Rubric
Exemplar
Student Responses with
annotations
1
ELA
Grade 3
Passage – “Healthy Cookies”
Please read the selection below and then answer the questions that
follow.Healthy Cookies
Mom bought healthy cookies.
It says so on the box.
Does she think I’m going to fall for that,
Like my head is full of rocks?
Mom bought healthy cookies,
And I won’t touch those things.
I want my Choco-Wonder-Treats
And goo-filled Tasty Rings.
Mom bought healthy cookies.
She says it’s them or fruit.
I say, “That’s a rotten choice!
I’d rather eat tree roots!”
Vitamins and fiber, with no sugar to be found
I bet these cookies taste like dirt scraped right up off the
ground!
Mom bought healthy cookies,
And now it’s after school.
I need a snack or I will starve.
How can she be so cruel?
Mom bought healthy cookies,
And worse, they’re not half bad.
I’ll have to use my secret weapon.
I like to call him “Dad.”
Low fat and no preservatives – how can that be good?
If Mom buys other healthy snacks, I bet they’ll taste like
wood!
“Mom bought healthy cookies!”
I say when Dad walks in.
“If we admit to liking them,
She’ll buy those things again!”
“Mom bought healthy cookies?”
Dad asks, while looking grim.
“Oh no! You might grow up to be
Athletic, fit, and slim!”
Mom bought healthy cookies,
And Dad is just no help.
What’s next, cake with lima beans,
Or ice cream made from kelp?1
Mom bought healthy cookies.
I guess that’s not so bad.
And now we’ve learned to say goodbye
To junk food we once had.
•
1 kelp—a brown seaweed
•
Mom bought healthy cookies.
Oh, poor, poor, hungry me!
I’m going to have to sneak some out
When she’s not there to see.
3
Extended Response Item
R.3.2; L.3.1; L.3.2
Write a paragraph that begins with a sentence
stating the main message of the poem. Add
many specific details from the poem that
support this as the main idea.
Answer with complete sentences, and use correct punctuation and grammar.
4
Score
4
Rubric
Designation
Thoroughly
Demonstrated
Description
The student demonstrates a thorough understanding of the question
and the text by correctly identifying the main message of the poem and
using many specific details from the poem that support that message.
The student uses complete sentences, correct punctuation and
grammar in the writing.
3
Clearly Demonstrated
The student demonstrates a clear understanding of the question and
the text generally identifying the main message of the poem and
providing a few relevant details from the poem that support this
message; some details may be general. The student provides a fairly
complete answer. The student uses complete sentences as well as
correct punctuation and grammar in most of the writing.
2
Basically
Demonstrated
The student demonstrates a basic understanding of the question and
the text by identifying the main message of the poem, however, the
student offers minimal support; some support may be incorrect or
irrelevant. The student uses complete sentences as well as correct
punctuation and grammar in some of the writing.
1
Minimally
Demonstrated
The student demonstrates some understanding of a message in the
poem but it may not be the main message, and the answer is not
complete. The student offers no support. The student response has
significant errors in constructing complete sentences, and/or in using
correct punctuation and grammar.
0
Incorrect or
Irrelevant
The response is incorrect or irrelevant.
5
Exemplar Response
The main message of this poem is that it is best to try new
things. You can see this when the speaker tries the cookies.
Rather than tasting like “dirt scraped right up off the ground,”
the girl finds that the cookies are “not half bad.” She also learns
from her father that the healthy cookies will help keep her
“Athletic, fit, and slim!” You can tell that she gets an open mind
when she admits that it is time to say goodbye to junk food.
6
Student Response
Score 3
Mom bought healthy
cookies. It says so on the
box. Vitamins and fiber,with
no sugar to be found. There
is no preservatives and it is
low fat. Now no more junk
food can be found.
The student demonstrates a clear
understanding of the question
and the text, generally identifying
the main message of the poem
(Mom bought healthy cookies)
and providing a few relevant
details from the poem that
support this message (Vitamins
and fiber, with no sugar to be
found, . . . no preservatives. . .
low fat. . . no more junk food).
The student provides a fairly
complete answer. The student
uses complete sentences as well
as correct punctuation and
grammar in most of the writing.
7
Student Response
Score 2
Her mom bought healthy
cookies.She does not like
healthy food.She thinks her
dad will help her.When she
came back from shcool she
was hungry. She did not
whant to eat the cookies.
The student demonstrates a
basic understanding of the
question and the text by
identifying the main message
of the poem (Her mom bought
healthy cookies. She does not
like healthy food); however,
the student offers minimal
support (she thinks her dad
willhelp her. . . she was
hungry). The student uses
complete sentences as well as
correct punctuation and
grammar in most of the
writing.
8
Student Response
Score 2
Mom bought healthy cookies! I
bet they'll taste bad. Low fat,
no preservatives, and no sugar
to be found.I know I'm not
going to like those gritty old
things, so why am I trying
them? Well,here goes
nothing.Yum!You know, these
aren't half bad!
The student demonstrates a
minimal understanding of the
question and the text. Even though
the student correctly identifies the
main message of the poem (Mom
bought healthy cookies) and uses
many specific details from the
poem that support that message
(Low fat, no preservatives, no
sugar. . . aren’t half bad), the
student only restates the story and
does not address the main idea.
The student uses complete
sentences and correct punctuation
and grammar.
9
Student Response
Score 1
You need to taste it befor
you no you do not like
it!!!!!!!!!!!
The student demonstrates
some understanding of a
message in the poem but it’s
not the main message (You
need to taste it befor you no
you do not like it!!!), and the
answer is not complete. The
student offers no support. The
student response has
significant errors in
constructing complete
sentences and in using correct
punctuation and grammar.
10
ELA
Grade 6
Passage – “The Tall Rock”
12
Extended Response Item
W.6.3; RL.6.6; W.6.3b; W.6.4; L.6.1
Write a conclusion to the story, told from the narrator’s
point of view twenty years later. Your narrative should
describe the narrator’s conclusions about the
childhood experiences with Mountain Rock, but now
from the perspective of an adult.
Use details from the text to support your answer.
Answer with complete sentences, and use correct
punctuation and grammar.
13
Rubric
Score
4
Designation
Thoroughly
Demonstrated
Description
The student demonstrates a thorough understanding by writing a conclusion from the
narrator’s point of view as an adult. The conclusion describes the narrator’s conclusions in a
way that logically relates to events from the story, and that refers to many specific details
from the story. For example, the adult narrator would logically have fond memories of
Mountain Rock. The student uses complete sentences, correct punctuation and grammar.
3
Clearly
Demonstrated
2
Basically
Demonstrated
1
Minimally
Demonstrated
0
Incorrect or
irrelevant
The student demonstrates a clear understanding by writing a conclusion from the narrator’s
point of view. The conclusion presents the narrator’s conclusions as an adult, and it logically
follows from events in the story. The conclusion includes a few relevant details from the story;
some details may be general. The student uses mostly correct sentences, punctuation and
grammar.
The student demonstrates a basic understanding by writing a conclusion about the narrator’s
childhood experiences with Mountain Rock. The conclusion deviates somewhat from the
scenario set up in the task, either by failing to plausibly establish the narrator as an adult, or
by creating inconsistencies. The student uses minimal support from the story; some support
may be incorrect or irrelevant. The student uses some correct sentences, punctuation and
grammar.
The student demonstrates a minimal understanding by writing a conclusion that fails to
address the topic of the narrator’s childhood experiences, but rather continues where the
story leaves off, or presents the narrator as an adult in a way that does not relate to
childhood experiences. Examples could include a conclusion in which the narrator’s family
unpacks the car and then enjoys a picnic by Mountain Rock, or a conclusion in which the
narrator describes his/her job or family as an adult. The student includes no support from the
story. The response has significant errors in constructing complete sentences, and/or in using
correct punctuation and grammar.
The response is incorrect or irrelevant.
14
Exemplar Response
It was a long time ago the last time I visited Mountain Rock. My grandparents
sold their house about ten years ago and moved to an apartment. Even
though I am now an adult, I still like to think about the fun I had on Mountain
Rock. Of course I got taller and taller until finally I could just step on top of the
rock without any help. It was cool to think that when I was just a little kid I
needed Grandpa to help me climb the rock. Even when the rock didn’t seem
like a big mountain, Grandpa still had to lift me to the top for a long time. One
summer when I was a teenager we took our five-year-old cousin Tracy with us
to visit my grandparents. On the way there I shouted “I get to climb first.”
Nick thought that was hilarious and said, “You kids and your rock!” just like
our mom used to say. I’ll always have happy memories of Mountain Rock.
15
Student Response
Score 4
Twenty Years later,I still remember those olden days we
used to vist my grandparent's big white house right up the
hill on summer days. when i was little he'd swing me up
through the air.the whole hill spun me around the sky was
blue and bright.and, the tree's everywhere looked green
and enormus.I used to climb the mountain rock.Oh how we
loved mountain rock.everytime my brother said" I get to
climb first. my mother would say "you kids and your
rock.When we reached their house my brother would run
and start to climb the rock my arents would just smile put
their hands around each other and watch.And i'd just
watch looking down.after my grandpa welcolmed us for a
second i thought the rock got smaller but it was just that i
was getting taller.But all at once i had a though no matter
how big,tall or the older i got this would always be the
tallest place.I sure do love those memories and i will always
keep them!!
The response presents the
narrator’s conclusion in a way
that logically relates to events
from the story and that refers
to many specific details from
the story. While on the surface
this response may appear to
summarize the story, the way
in which the student handles
the language and retelling
makes it clear that the narrator
truly is reliving fond childhood
events twenty years later. The
student demonstrates a
thorough command of the
conventions of standard
English. Though there are a
few minor errors, primarily
typographical, meaning is
clear throughout the response.
16
Student Response
Score 3
20 years later, I had grown into a full grown, mature adult.
When we would visit my grandparents i would travel with
my mom, dad, and brother. Now that I am an adult I travel
with my wife and two girls. I still climb on the "Mountain
Rock" just mot as much as I did when I was a kid. Now that
I am grown I help my kids climb the wall. They love
climbing the wall even more than I did when I was their
age. They are always arguing on the trip to my
grandparent's house. The main argument is "Who is going
to get to clim bthe wall first." Maybe, I will be a
grandparent someday and have a "Mountain Rock" for my
grandkids to climb on.
The response includes a few
relevant details from the story.
In order to achieve a higher
score, the student needs one
or two additional specific
details from the story. The
student demonstrates
command of the conventions
of standard English. There are
a few distracting errors in
grammar and usage but
meaning is clear.
17
Student Response
Score 2
I used to enjoy the climb on the boulder
at grandpa's house and how tall i used to
feel , and i would anticapate all six hours
of the ride there. The rock used to be like
a mouantian to me, but now when I
revisit I can tell that I have grown alot
throughout the years. But I will always
remember the thrill of being so high, and
to this day it is still the tallest place in the
world to me.
The student does not plausibly
establish the narrator as an adult.
While the student appears to show the
narrator reflecting on the past, it is
difficult to determine whether or not
he or she places the narrator twenty
years later or merely summarizes the
narrator’s feelings in the story
provided. The student uses a few
details from the article, but, in order to
achieve a higher score, he or she needs
to more clearly show that the setting is
twenty years later. The student
demonstrates an inconsistent
command of the conventions of
standard English. There are a few
distracting errors in grammar and
usage, but they do not impede
understanding.
18
Student Response
Score 1
I realized it was the rock that
made it worth while,even
thought the rock was not big
to my eyes it was big to my
mind,which made the whole
trip alot more memorible,and i
couldnt wait to come back
next year.
The student demonstrates a
minimal understanding by
writing a conclusion that does
not address the narrator’s
childhood experiences but rather
continues where the story leaves
off. While the student does
include support from the story,
his or her approach is not
acceptable for a higher score.
The student demonstrates an
inconsistent command of the
conventions of standard English.
There are a few errors in
grammar and usage, but they do
not impede understanding.
19
Student Response
Score 0
The twenty-year old later was
confuse about what was going
on because the way he saw
the mountain. As the big thing
but as he got older he was get
taller. So now the mountain is
now smaller than it really.Is of
whaen he was a little boy.
This response is incorrect.
While the student opens
with a reference to twenty
years, he or she merely
follows that phrase with a
summary of the narrator’s
view of the mountain in the
story, not twenty years
later. In addition, the errors
in the conventions make it
even more difficult to
determine the student’s
intent in the response.
20
ELA
Grade 9-10
Paired Passage #1: Informational Essay
Today in science class, our teacher showed photographs of her trip spent exploring the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. This underwater
seascape of bizarrely shaped corals was like a city drawn by an artist with a fistful of crayons scribbling wildly over a page, forming mushrooms and brains,
horns and antlers, roses and cabbages, bacon and light bulbs. Like the world of Alice in Wonderland, nothing seemed as it should.
I learned that most coral reefs exist in a belt around the globe 30 degrees north and south of the equator. A few reefs occur outside the tropics in the far
colder and deeper waters off Norway and Ireland. A fleeting hope for a field trip was dashed. I contented myself with the videos and pictures of my
teacher.
Many surprises were in store though. Although coral looks like a rock and acts like a plant, it’s really a collection of animals, closely packed together. The
animal is called a polyp and is related to the jellyfish. When these polyps group together and attach to already existing coral, they form a reef. Individual
polyps are homes to colorful single-celled algae. Although I would not want to harbor algae, polyps and algae get along quite well. Their relationship is
symbiotic, or beneficial to each organism. Algae absorb sunlight through the water and produce oxygen and sugar the polyp consumes to survive. In
return, polyps produce a hard calcium carbonate shell that protects the algae from harm. What we see is a hard and colorful coral reef. The brilliant scarlet
reds, amethyst purples, emerald greens, and sapphire blues are caused by a combination of the coral’s shade and whatever hue the single-celled algae
brings to the mix.
Sunlight is essential to the survival of coral and explains its choice of home in the shallowest waters of the tropics. Sunlight beats down year-round in
these regions. In addition, shallow water is clearer, allowing a maximum amount of sunshine to penetrate. Coral is rarely if ever found at depths below
490 feet unless it is the type that does not house algae. Reefs of coral not dependent on algae can exist at greater depths and in the cooler waters such as
those off Norway and Ireland.
Unexpectedly, coral can sting with tentacles in the same way jellyfish can. What appears as inert and lifeless as rock quickly protects itself from what
ventures too close. Coral is not entirely able to defend itself though. Divers regularly take pieces and sell them as ornaments and jewelry or decoration for
coffee tables. It’s illegal in many places to take, sell, or buy coral. Despite coral’s other defense mechanisms like secreting mucous, coral is fragile and
sensitive. It often dies from damage caused by garbage, nets, anchors, boats, flippers, hooks, traps, pollution, hands, sand, changes in temperature, and
even washed-off suntan oil from divers and swimmers. Bleached coral is the result, and as its name implies, it looks like its colors have been sucked dry.
Besides the importance of saving coral so humans can enjoy it, coral reefs are essential to other life in the ocean. Just as reefs are attractive to humans,
they are also very popular homes for marine life. A quarter of all marine creatures live in coral reefs, making them great places to view many species of
marine life. Paradoxically, coral reefs make up less than one percent of ocean real estate. Photographs my teacher shared showed not only corals but an
explosion of colorful fish swimming amongst them. Considering the length of time it takes for a coral reef to form—thousands to millions of years—taking
or damaging this popular home for fish seems especially unjust.
I went home that evening and enjoyed my own Great Barrier Reef vacation by sharing the dozens of pictures I found online with my parents and sister.
What a special place. My teacher was very fortunate to visit there in person!
Paired Passage #2--Poem
An Aquarium
by Amy Lowell
Streaks of green and yellow iridescence,
Silver shiftings,
Rings veering out of rings,
Silver—gold—
Grey-green opaqueness sliding down,
With sharp white bubbles
Shooting and dancing,
Flinging quickly outward.
Nosing the bubbles,
Swallowing them,
Fish.
Blue shadows against silver-saffron water,
The light rippling over them
In steel-bright tremors.
Outspread translucent fins
Flute, fold, and relapse;
The threaded light prints through them on the
pebbles
In scarcely tarnished twinklings.
Curving of spotted spines,
Slow up-shifts,
Lazy convolutions:
Then a sudden swift straightening
And darting below:
Oblique grey shadows
Athwart (across) a pale casement.
Roped and curled,
Green man-eating eels
Slumber in undulate rhythms,
With crests laid horizontal on their backs.
Barred fish,
Striped fish,
Uneven disks of fish,
Slip, slide, whirl, turn,
And never touch.
Metallic blue fish,
With fins wide and yellow and swaying
Like Oriental fans,
Hold the sun in their bellies
And glow with light:
Blue brilliance cut by black bars.
An oblong pane of straw-coloured shimmer,
Across it, in a tangent,
A smear of rose, black, silver.
Short twists and upstartings,
Rose-black, in a setting of bubbles:
Sunshine playing between red and black flowers
On a blue and gold lawn.
Shadows and polished surfaces,
Facets of mauve and purple,
A constant modulation of values.
Shaft-shaped,
With green bead eyes;
Thick-nosed,
Heliotrope-coloured;
Swift spots of chrysolite and coral;
In the midst of green, pearl, amethyst
irradiations.
Outside,
A willow-tree flickers
With little white jerks,
And long blue waves
Rise steadily beyond the outer islands.
23
Extended Response Item
RI.9.4; RL.9.4; L.9.3; L.9.5; L.9.1
Part A
Identify an example of a simile and/or metaphor used in the article. Provide the
sentence from the article that contains the simile and/or metaphor and explain the
effect of this figurative language.
Part B
Identify an example of a simile and/or metaphor used in the poem. Provide an excerpt
from the poem that contains the simile and/or metaphor and explain the effect of this
figurative language.
Part C
Consider the authors’ use of figurative language throughout the article and poem.
Explain how the authors’ use of figurative language helps the reader to more fully
comprehend the underwater worlds described in the texts.
Be sure to complete ALL parts of the task. Use details from the text to support your
answer. Answer with complete sentences, and use correct punctuation and grammar.
Rubric
Score
Designation
4
Thoroughly
Demonstrated
3
Clearly
Demonstrated
2
Basically
Demonstrated
1
Minimally
Demonstrated
0
Incorrect or
irrelevant
Description
The student demonstrates a thorough understanding of the article and poem
by correctly identifying an example of simile and/or metaphor in each text and
explaining each one’s effect. The student also explains how the authors’ use of
figurative language helps the reader to more fully comprehend the underwater
worlds described in the texts. The response includes thorough support from
the texts and the student uses correct sentences, punctuation and grammar.
The student demonstrates a clear understanding of the article and poem by
correctly identifying an example of simile and/or metaphor in each text and
mostly explaining their effect. The explains how the authors’ use of figurative
language helps the reader to more fully comprehend the underwater worlds
described in the texts. The response includes some support from the texts and
the student uses mostly correct sentences, punctuation and grammar.
The student demonstrates a basic understanding of the article and poem by
correctly identifying an example of simile and/or metaphor in one of the texts
and partially explaining its effect. The student states how the authors’ use of
figurative language helps the reader to more fully comprehend the underwater
worlds described in the texts. The response includes little support from the
texts and the student uses some correct sentences, punctuation and
grammar.
The student demonstrates little understanding of the article and poem by
identifying one example or fragment of a simile and/or metaphor in one of the
texts. The response includes no support from the texts and has significant
errors in sentence construction and/or in using correct punctuation and
grammar.
The response is incorrect or irrelevant.
Exemplar Response
Part A
“This underwater seascape of bizarrely shaped corals was like a city drawn by an artist with a fistful of crayons scribbling wildly over a
page, forming mushrooms and brains, horns and antlers, roses and cabbages, bacon and light bulbs.” The figurative language in this
sentence brings to life the dazzling colors and shapes all mixed together in the coral reef.
Part B
“Metallic blue fish
With fins wide and yellow and swaying
Like Oriental fans…”
The figurative language in these lines helps the reader to picture the curved shape and back-and-forth motion of the fish’s fins.
Part C
The authors’ use of figurative language in the article and poem helps the reader to better understand how the underwater landscape and
its creatures look and move. It also gives the reader a sense of fascination about the underwater world.
In the article, the coral seascape is described as brains, horns, antlers, roses, cabbages, bacon, and light bulbs to show its bizarre shapes
and wild colors. “Explosions of colourful fish” make a fascinating scene. The underwater world is compared to “the world of Alice and
Wonderland.” The figurative language helps the reader see that it is a wonderful place where “nothing seemed as it should.”
In the poem, shiny blue fish “hold the sun in their bellies/And glow with light.” Light ripples through the water and over fish in “steelbright tremors.” Some form of marine life becomes “an oblong pane of straw-coloured shimmer.” Overall, the use of figurative language
gives the reader the sense that there is more to these underwater worlds than simply what meets the eye. We don’t simply see the fins of
a blue fish, but rather “Oriental fans,” swaying on “metallic blue fish.” We don’t simply see a reef of coral, but rather “a city drawn by an
artist with a fistful of crayons.”
This language helps engage our imaginations in seeing the true wonder of these worlds
Student Response
Score 1
Part A: This underwater seascape of bizarrely
shaped corals was like a city drawn by an artist with
a fistful of crayons scribbling wildly over a page, this
shows how the author would imagine the coral was
created. It shows how beautiful it must be if it
looked as if someone painted it.
Part B: Metallic blue fish, with fins wide and yellow
and swaying, like oriental fans, hold the sun in their
bellies, and glow with light: This describes how the
fish are moving (like oriental fans), It also holds the
attention that the fish's belllies are glowing, but in
reality they are a very bight color.
Part C: The figurative language gives the reader
examples of what everything looks like and how it
seems to the author.
The student demonstrates a clear
understanding of the article and poem by
correctly identifying an example of a simile in
the article (This underwater seascape of
bizarrely shaped corals was like a city drawn by
an artist with a fistful of crayons scribbling
wildly over a page) and a simile and metaphor
in the poem (Metallic blue fish, with fins wide
and yellow and swaying, like oriental fans
[and] hold the sun in their bellies). The student
also mostly explains their effect ( It shows how
beautiful it must be if it looked as if someone
painted it; This describes how the fish are
moving [like oriental fans]; It also holds the
attention that the fish's belllies are glowing,
but in reality they are a very bight color). The
student attempts to explain how the authors’
use of figurative language helps the reader to
more fully comprehend the underwater worlds
described in the texts, but does not include
any support from the text. The response
demonstrates a command of the conventions
of standard English. There are a few errors,
but meaning is clear. In order to receive a
higher score, in Part C, the student would need
to provide specific details from the texts to
support the response.
Student Response
Score 1
part A: a simile "this underwater
seascape of of bizarrely shaped
corals was like a city drawn by an
artist with a fistful of crayons
scribbling wildly over a page..."
part B: a simile "metallic blue fish/
with fins wide and yellow and
swaying/like oriental fans.."
part C:it helps because the author
gives alot of detail about what it
looks like and uses very descriptive
words.
The student demonstrates little
understanding of the article and poem.
Although the student identifies an example
of a simile in both of the texts, there is no
explanation of the effect of this figurative
language ("this underwater seascape of of
bizarrely shaped corals was like a city drawn
by an artist with a fistful of crayons
scribbling wildly over a page..." [and]
"metallic blue fish/ with fins wide and
yellow and swaying/like oriental fans..").
The student attempts to explain how the
author’s use of figurative language helps
the reader to more fully comprehend the
underwater worlds described in the texts,
but uses no support from the texts. The
response is too brief to demonstrate more
than an inconsistent command of the
conventions of standard English.
28